Keith Urban served as emotional sponsor for recovering alcoholic Brantley Gilbert
Brantley Gilbert is singing the praises of fellow country music star Keith Urban after he supported his friend while he struggled with sobriety.
The You Don't Know Her Like I Do hitmaker was having a hard time giving up alcohol, and he found Urban, who is seven years sober himself, keen to help.
Although the two were only acquaintances at the time, Gilbert tells
Country Countdown USA that Urban took it upon himself to reach out
to the younger singer.
Gilbert reveals, "Keith's actually been a really good dude to me.
When I was making changes in my life, I was down and out, I was
even in the hospital, and he showed up and spent several hours with
me one day out of nowhere, just encouraging me, because I had a lot
of worries about doing my job.
"Looking back, I was thinking, since I was 15 years old, I'd been
sneaking beers, I hadn't been sober for a lot of these things; I
was nervous about writing, performing, and doing my job like I used
to."
He continues, "Keith told me, 'Man it's a whole new world. It's
different but you're gonna have a lot more fun with it'. He was
just uplifting and reassuring. He's one of those guys when you meet
him, you know he has a good soul. He has an awesome heart and is an
awesome dude.
"That was a pretty impressive thing to me. You meet people in the
business, and wonder how compassionate they are. But he showed up
out of the blue, and I hardly knew the guy. I'll never forget that
as long as I live, and I'm indebted to him now."